Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has confirmed his interest in Darren Bent and Loic Remy as he looks for striking reinforcements.

However, the 51-year-old has admitted they are only two of a series of potential targets the club is considering with the start of the new Barclays Premier League campaign looming.

Pardew told the Northern Echo: "Both of those players are on our list. I make no bones about that.

"But they are under contract at other clubs. It's difficult, you have to be careful. It's nice for our fans to hear names, but I don't want to disrupt other clubs' preparations.

"We have a list of four or five strikers who will push [Papiss] Cisse, Shola [Ameobi], Adam Campbell and Yoan Gouffran because that will be important next season.

"We do need two strikers. Last year, I didn't think there was enough competition in that area for a Premier League team."

Bent appears to have no future at Aston Villa, who paid an initial £18million to lure him from Sunderland in January 2011, although Christian Benteke's transfer request has left manager Paul Lambert in a difficult position.

Newcastle thought they had landed £8million France international Remy in January, only for the Marseille man to opt for a more lucrative deal at QPR instead.

His goals, however, could not prevent the Londoners from slipping back into the Championship and he is available once again.

Sources on Tyneside had previously indicated that there was little appetite to reconsider a man who had initially turned down the opportunity to head for St James' Park.

However, there appears to have been a change of stance amid speculation that Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has asked for central defender Steven Taylor in a player-plus-cash deal.